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Author:
Nasir Iqbal|Assistant Professor of English Literature
Updated on:October 11, 2025 Estimated Reading Time:18 min
A Tale of Two Cities MCQs
1. What year does the novel state as the period of the events described?
A. 1770
B. 1776
C. 1775
D. 1789
C. 1775.
The story begins in 1775, years before the French Revolution. This early date sets the historical context for the coming social upheaval.
2. What political figures are mentioned as being on the throne of England in 1775?
A. A large-jawed king and a queen with a fair face
B. A large-jawed king and a queen with a plain face
C. A king and queen both with plain faces
D. A fair-faced king and a plain-faced queen
B. A large-jawed king and a queen with a plain face.
Dickens describes the large-jawed King George III. This detail satirizes the ineffective political leadership and stagnation of the era.
3. In France, a youth was sentenced to be tortured and burned alive for failing to do what?
A. Attend Mass regularly
B. Pay homage to a nobleman
C. Kneel down to honor a procession of monks
D. Confess a crime
C. Kneel down to honor a procession of monks.
This extreme sentence for a trivial offense illustrates the severe judicial cruelty. It highlights the oppression present in pre-Revolutionary France.
4. What terrible historical object is foreshadowed as being made from trees marked by Fate (the Woodman)?
A. A hanging scaffold
B. A movable framework with a sack and a knife
C. A prison cell door
D. A burning stake
B. A movable framework with a sack and a knife.
The “movable framework” is an allegorical foreshadowing of the terrifying mass executions. This terrifying machine is the infamous guillotine.
5. What vehicle was struggling on the road to Dover?
A. A tumbril
B. The Dover mail
C. A private carriage
D. A post-chaise
The Dover mail coach carries the initial message of “Recalled to Life.” The tense journey establishes the mood of fear and secrecy.
6. If any passenger had proposed walking ahead into the mist and darkness, what was the risk?
A. Getting lost
B. Getting shot instantly as a highwayman
C. Catching a severe cold
D. Missing the connection
B. Getting shot instantly as a highwayman.
The threat of being instantly shot as a highwayman highlights the pervasive violence and lawlessness present on the English roads during that time.
7. What was the name of the messenger who came galloping up to the stopped coach?
A. Tom
B. Joe
C. Jerry
D. Lorry
C. Jerry.
Jerry Cruncher is the messenger who meets Lorry. His arrival sets the central secret mission and the primary plot device in motion.
8. What specific Bank did the passenger, Mr. Lorry, belong to?
A. The Bank of England
B. Tellson’s Bank
C. Temple Bar Bank
D. The French Credit Bank
B. Tellson’s Bank.
Tellson’s Bank is an old, rigid firm symbolic of tradition and secrecy. Mr. Lorry serves as its loyal, old-fashioned agent and employee.
9. What answer did Mr. Lorry send back via the messenger, Jerry?
A. “Mission accomplished”
B. “Recalled to Life”
C. “Waiting at Dover”
D. “Will depart tomorrow”
B. “Recalled to Life”.
“Recalled to Life” is the central thematic phrase of Book One. It refers to Dr. Manette’s liberation from his long imprisonment in the Bastille.
10. How long had the buried person been buried, according to the spectral answers in Mr. Lorry’s mind?
A. Five years
B. Ten years
C. Almost eighteen years
D. Twenty-five years
C. Almost eighteen years.
Dr. Manette was imprisoned for nearly eighteen years. This immense separation highlights the devastating human cost of aristocratic tyranny.
11. What was Mr. Lorry’s most profound current of impression during the night journey?
A. That he was being pursued.
B. That he was on his way to dig someone out of a grave.
C. That he was late for a meeting.
D. That the horses were unfit for the journey.
B. That he was on his way to dig someone out of a grave.
Lorry feels as if he is “on his way to dig someone out of a grave.” This reflects the spiritual state of the long-imprisoned Doctor Manette.
12. What furniture made Miss Manette’s room look funereal?
A. Stone benches and straw
B. Iron chains and bars
C. White linen and fine carpets
D. Black horsehair and heavy dark tables
D. Black horsehair and heavy dark tables.
The dark, heavy furniture in Lucie’s room mirrors the somber and funereal nature of the secret Mr. Lorry is about to reveal to her.
13. What did Mr. Lorry refer to himself as when addressing Miss Manette about business?
A. A wise counselor
B. A mere dull man of business
C. A speaking machine
D. An élderly gentleman
C. A speaking machine.
Mr. Lorry calls himself a “speaking machine.” This reflects his belief that professional duty requires him to suppress all personal feelings.
14. The history of Lucie’s father would have been the history of the unfortunate gentleman, the Doctor of what city?
A. Paris
B. Saint Antoine
C. Beauvais
D. Temple Bar
C. Beauvais.
Dr. Manette was the well-regarded Doctor of Beauvais before his imprisonment. This establishes his former identity and respectable social status.
15. Who arrived to tend to Miss Manette after she fainted?
A. The waiter
B. The coachman
C. A strong woman
D. Jerry Cruncher
C. A strong woman.
Miss Pross, the strong woman, arrives to tend to Lucie after she faints. Miss Pross is Lucie’s fierce, protective governess and servant.
16. How did the strong woman (Miss Pross) indignantly address Mr. Lorry?
A. You business man
B. You in brown
C. Sir, you are a fool
D. Old gentleman
B. “You in brown”.
Miss Pross indignantly calls Mr. Lorry “You in brown.” This immediately establishes her fierce and unique protective devotion to Lucie Manette.
17. What liquid was spilled and broken in the street outside the wine-shop in Saint Antoine?
A. Water
B. Oil
C. Wine
D. Brandy
C. Wine.
The spilled wine highlights the people’s desperate poverty. Its color symbolically foreshadows the coming blood and violence of the revolution.
18. What did the miserable people in Saint Antoine have as an inscription on the baker’s shelves, even in his scanty stock of bad bread?
A. Poverty
B. Filth
C. Despair
D. Hunger
D. Hunger.
The inscription of “Hunger” reflects the terrible, widespread starvation in Saint Antoine. This deep suffering is the primary cause of the revolution.
19. What was Madame Defarge doing with apparent calmness and repose of spirit?
A. Reading a book
B. Cleaning the counter
C. Knitting
D. Counting money
C. Knitting.
Madame Defarge is perpetually knitting. This seemingly calm act is actually a secret register of those marked for execution in the coming revolution.
20. What distant landmark could be seen through the grating while ascending the staircase?
A. The Bastille
B. The two great towers of Notre-Dame
C. The Seine River
D. The King’s Palace
B. The two great towers of Notre-Dame.
The sight of Notre-Dame suggests Dr. Manette is isolated yet still close to civilization. This highlights his removal from society.
21. Who were the “chosen few” Defarge showed the shoemaker to, referred to as “real men of my name”?
A. Tellson’s agents
B. Revolutionaries
C. Jacques
D. The Patriots
C. Jacques.
The “Jacques” are the revolutionaries whom Defarge introduces to the Doctor. They witness the suffering caused by the aristocracy, fueling their rage.
22. What was the peculiar nature of the shoemaker’s voice?
A. It was deep and harsh.
B. It was the faintness of solitude and disuse.
C. It was cheerful and welcoming.
D. It was loud and angry.
B. The faintness of solitude and disuse.
The shoemaker’s voice had the “faintness of solitude and disuse.” This reveals the deep psychological damage from his long isolation in the Bastille.
23. When asked for his name, what did the shoemaker reply?
A. Alexandre Manette
B. Doctor of Beauvais
C. One Hundred and Five, North Tower
D. Citizen Jacques
C. One Hundred and Five, North Tower.
Manette replies with his prison number and location. He has lost his true identity to his long, terrible imprisonment.
24. What type of shoe was the shoemaker currently working on?
A. Practical boot
B. Lady’s walking-shoe in the present mode
C. Child’s shoe
D. A simple slipper
B. Lady’s walking-shoe in the present mode.
Manette was making a “Lady’s walking-shoe in the present mode.” This suggests his mind retains some fleeting memories of his previous life and skills.
25. What did Manette tear in a frenzy upon uttering “Whose voice was that”?
A. His clothes
B. His white hair
C. The packet
D. The shoe
B. His white hair.
Manette tears at his white hair in a frenzy upon hearing a voice. The voice reminded him of his dead wife, signifying his deep mental distress.
26. What object did the prisoner ask for miserably before getting into the coach?
A. Food and water
B. His shoemaking tools and unfinished shoes
C. The paper found in the cell
D. A new suit of clothes
B. His shoemaking tools and unfinished shoes.
The prisoner asks for his shoemaking tools. This signifies his fear of losing the only mental coping mechanism that has sustained him through prison.
27. What year did the second book, “The Golden Thread,” begin?
A. 1775
B. 1780
C. 1789
D. 1792
B. 1780.
Book Two, “The Golden Thread,” begins in 1780. This five-year leap establishes Lucie and her father’s new, recovered life in London.
28. What attributes were the partners of Tellson’s Bank proud of?
A. Their generosity and modernity
B. Its smallness, darkness, ugliness, and incommodiousness
C. Its respectability and wealth
D. Its large size and good location
B. Its smallness, darkness, ugliness, and incommodiousness.
Tellson’s Bank is intentionally antiquated, small, and gloomy. The partners’ pride in this symbolizes the resistance to change and reform.
29. What was Charles Darnay indicted for?
A. Forgery
B. Robbery
C. Treason
D. Murder
C. Treason.
Darnay is charged with treason against the King of England. This forms the legal drama of his first trial and is a major plot point.
30. What precaution was taken in the courtroom against “gaol air and gaol fever”?
A. Windows were opened.
B. The court was strewn with herbs and sprinkled with vinegar.
C. Guards wore masks.
D. Fires were kept burning constantly.
B. The court was strewn with herbs and sprinkled with vinegar.
The herbs and vinegar were a common precaution. They were meant to ward off “gaol fever” from contagious prisoners. This highlights the court’s unsanitary condition.
31. What was the name of the “unimpeachable patriot” witness for the Crown?
A. Roger Cly
B. John Barsad
C. Mr. Stryver
D. Sydney Carton
B. John Barsad.
John Barsad is revealed to be a professional spy and informant. His testimony, though patriotic in veneer, is actually mercenary and dishonest.
32. What was the name of the virtuous servant who testified against Darnay?
A. Gaspard
B. Theophile Gabelle
C. Roger Cly
D. Joe
C. Roger Cly.
Roger Cly, another perjuring spy, testifies against Darnay. Jerry Cruncher later proves that Cly’s death and funeral were a sham.
33. What was the singular circumstance that arose in the case, discrediting a witness?
A. The witness admitted he was lying.
B. The witness confused him with the Judge.
C. The striking resemblance between Darnay and Mr. Carton.
D. The witness was blind.
C. The striking resemblance between Darnay and Mr. Carton.
The resemblance is the key plot device that saves Darnay’s life at his first trial. It creates reasonable doubt among the jurors.
34. Who was the first person to notice Lucie fainting and call for assistance?
A. Mr. Lorry
B. Doctor Manette
C. Sydney Carton
D. The Judge
C. Sydney Carton.
Sydney Carton is the first to notice Lucie fainting. This small, unnoticed act reveals his hidden attentiveness and deep compassion for her.
35. What name did Lucie give to the influence that united her father to his past and present beyond his misery?
A. The silver cord
B. The golden thread
C. The quiet light
D. The happy echo
B. The golden thread.
Lucie is the “golden thread” who figuratively weaves together her father’s shattered life and sanity. She represents purity and emotional restoration.
36. Why did Carton say he hated Darnay?
A. Darnay stole his career.
B. Darnay was too proud.
C. Darnay showed him what he had fallen away from.
D. Darnay was marrying Lucie.
C. Darnay showed him what he had fallen away from.
Carton hated Darnay because Darnay represented the worthy, successful man he could have been. This emphasizes Carton’s deep self-loathing and wasted potential.
37. What professional relationship existed between Sydney Carton and Mr. Stryver?
A. They were co-counsels.
B. Carton was the client, Stryver the lawyer.
C. Carton was the jackal, Stryver the lion.
D. Carton was the student, Stryver the tutor.
C. Carton was the jackal, Stryver the lion.
Carton was the “jackal” who did the legal research and preparation. Stryver was the “lion” who presented the work in the courtroom and took all the credit.
38. What item of his former life did Doctor Manette keep in a corner of his bedroom in London?
A. The Bastille Calendar
B. The disused shoemaker’s bench and tools
C. A portrait of Lucie’s mother
D. A safe from Tellson’s
B. The disused shoemaker’s bench and tools.
Dr. Manette kept the shoemaker’s bench as a dark symbol of his mental relapse. It represents his psychological vulnerability to past trauma.
39. What name did Miss Pross call Lucie?
A. My dear
B. Ladybird
C. Darling pretty
D. Miss Manette
B. Ladybird.
“Ladybird” is Miss Pross’s term of fierce endearment for Lucie. It highlights Miss Pross’s intense, singular, and deeply protective devotion.
40. How many strong men, besides the Cook, were required to assist Monseigneur in taking his morning chocolate?
A. Two
B. Three
C. Four
D. Six
C. Four.
Four strong men were required to serve Monseigneur his chocolate. This detail satirizes the extreme and ridiculous arrogance of the French aristocracy.
41. Whose child was killed when the Marquis’s carriage dashed through the streets?
A. Gaspard’s
B. Defarge’s
C. The mender of roads’
D. Gabelle’s
A. Gaspard’s.
Gaspard, the peasant, is the father whose child is killed by the Marquis’s carriage. This brutal act is the direct spark for Gaspard’s vengeance.
42. Who threw the gold coin back into the Marquis’s carriage?
A. Gaspard (the wretched father)
B. Madame Defarge
C. Defarge
D. An anonymous member of the crowd
B. Madame Defarge.
Madame Defarge throws the coin back. This is an early, non-verbal act of defiance. It signals the revolutionary’s cold rejection of aristocratic charity.
43. What was the Marquis’s governing philosophy?
A. Repression is the only lasting philosophy.
B. Liberty for all.
C. Justice and mercy.
D. Honesty and tradition.
A. Repression is the only lasting philosophy.
The Marquis’s cold doctrine justifies the complete cruelty and oppression of the aristocracy. This belief directly leads to his assassination.
44. What was scrawled on the paper around the knife hilt in the dead Marquis’s chest?
A. “Justice for Gaspard”
B. “Drive him fast to his tomb. This, from Jacques.”
C. “Repression is dead”
D. “Recalled to life”
B. “Drive him fast to his tomb. This, from Jacques.”.
The note reveals the Marquis was killed by Gaspard, signifying the lethal and growing power of the commoners’ revolutionary movement.
45. For nine days after Lucie’s wedding, Doctor Manette suffered a relapse into what state?
A. Deep depression
B. Shoemaking seclusion
C. Agitated frenzy
D. Physical illness
B. Shoemaking seclusion.
Dr. Manette relapsed into shoemaking seclusion for nine days. This mental break was caused by Darnay revealing his true family identity.
46. What action did Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross take regarding the shoemaker’s bench?
A. They kept it safe.
B. They hacked it to pieces and burned it.
C. They sold it.
D. They moved it to the garden.
B. They hacked it to pieces and burned it.
Lorry and Pross destroyed the bench during Manette’s absence. This symbolic act was an attempt to destroy the painful trauma of his past.
47. During the storming of the Bastille, Defarge of the wine-shop worked furiously, eventually demanding to be shown what cell?
A. The governor’s office
B. The North Tower, One Hundred and Five
C. The armory
D. The wine cellar
B. The North Tower, One Hundred and Five.
Defarge demanded to see the North Tower cell where Manette was imprisoned. He sought to confirm the details of the Doctor’s suffering for the revolution.
48. What did Defarge find in a hole in the chimney of the North Tower cell?
A. Weapons
B. A written paper
C. Gold and jewels
D. Food and water
B. A written paper.
Defarge found the written paper containing Dr. Manette’s long, forgotten denunciation of the Evrémonde family. This document is central to the plot.
49. What rumor, which proved true, sent the people of Saint Antoine into a blind frenzy?
A. The King was escaping.
B. Old Foulon, who told the starving to eat grass, was alive.
C. The Bastille had been retaken.
D. All prisoners were to be released.
B. Old Foulon, who told the starving to eat grass, was alive.
The discovery that Foulon, a symbol of aristocratic cruelty, was alive drove the people to a blind, frenzied act of vengeance and mob justice.
50. What was the urgent communication that drew Charles Darnay back to France?
A. A note from Doctor Manette
B. A letter from Gabelle from the Abbaye prison.
C. A threat from the Marquis
D. A summons from the Republic
B. A letter from Gabelle from the Abbaye prison..
Darnay felt honour-bound to save Gabelle, the faithful agent. This compassionate act put Darnay directly into the path of the dangerous French Revolution.
